2011 Champion Takes Win in Return to Beatrice

Belleville, Kan., IMCA SportMod driver Tyler Frye was a dominant figure at the Beatrice Speedway during the 2011 racing season.

Frye not only won the division’s points championship, but he also claimed five A Feature wins along the way.

Friday night, Frye returned to the Beatrice track for the first time since during the regular-season racing program and picked up where he left off in 2011, winning the SportMod main event.

“It was fun, but I had to work for it, though,” Frye said. “Coming from 22nd to first is a long ways.”

Frye said his strategy going into the race was try and get into the top 10.
“Everything just went in our favor and I ended up getting up there and being able to pass everybody on the top,” Frye said.
Frye said the track, during the feature was “just like” he likes it.

“It was dry and I was able to hammer down around the top,” Frye said.
Washington, Kan., driver Greg Metz took the lead from Beatrice driver Travis Runcie with 10 laps to go in the feature.

Metz held the advantage until a caution flag bunched up the field with three laps remaining.

Frye took advantage of the restart after the caution, moving into second place behind Metz and then, with one lap remaining, passing his fellow Kansas driver and taking the checkered flag.

Metz finished second in the race, while Beatrice driver Lance Borgman was third and Runcie was fourth.

There were 25 SportMods competing in the 18-lap A Feature.

Frye said he’s been racing at different tracks this season “just for fun.”

“We’re not really doing any points things,” Frye said. “It’s just wherever we feel like going that week.”

Frye said he does plan to be back in Beatrice in two weeks when the track hosts the Nebraska State Championships.

But, Friday night at the Beatrice Speedway, Grabouski made a little patience pay off as he took the lead with two laps remaining in the Modified A Feature and then took the checkered flag.

“I’m usually not a very patient person,” Grabouski said, smiling. “But I was trying to be patient about when to go and try to make my move to the front.”

Crete driver Darren Meinke had led since the opening lap of the race and held off all comers until Grabouski made his late charge to the front.

Grabouski had moved into third place behind Meinke and Lincoln driver Aaron Pella with 15 laps left in the A Feature.

With eight laps remaining, the Beatrice driver was in second behind Meinke.

“I didn’t get as good of a start as I wanted to,” Grabouski said. “But once I started picking them off, the car was running really good.”

Grabouski said once he got into second place, he was just hoping Meinke would “make a mistake” and give him an opening to get into first.

“He (Meinke) really ran a good race,” Grabouski said.

Meinke finished second, followed by Pella in third and Malcolm driver Mike Densberger in fourth.

Armstrong claims sixth A Feature of 2012

Beatrice driver Adam Armstrong picked up a career-record win by taking the lead with one lap remaining in the IMCA Hobby Stock A Feature Friday night.

The victory gave Adam Armstrong seven feature victories in 2012 at the Beatrice Speedway, a career high after finishing with six wins in 2011.

Beatrice driver Ryan Roschewski started on the inside pole and led until Adam Armstrong made his late move.

Adam Armstrong had made his way into the top four with 11 laps remaining in the 15-lap, 20-car A Feature.

After running third for three laps, he moved into second place behind Roschewski.
Roschewski continued to hold off Adam Armstrong until giving up the lead with one lap left.

“The track was really racy,” Adam Armstrong said.

Adam Armstrong said he watched the Stock Cars run their A Feature while he was in the staging area for his race and knew the wasn’t just a one-lane track.

“I knew it was going to be something we could race on,” Adam Armstrong said. “And it really was.”

After starting on the outside of the sixth row, Adam Armstrong said he “managed” to make the field and eventually get to the front of the pack.

Roschewski finished second in the race, followed by Beatrice drivers Roy Armstrong in third and Jordan Junker in fourth.

“I never would have imagined, getting my seventh win at Beatrice this year,” Adam Armstrong said. “Last year, I had six and that was a personal record.
“Seven this year is awesome.”

Once he won the Hobby Stock feature Friday, Armstrong literally ran from victory lane back to his pit area where he climbed into a SportMod for that division’s main event.
“This is fun,” Adam Armstrong said.

After finishing fifth in last week’s SportMod A Feature, Adam Armstrong was making a pass into second place when he “got sideway” this week late in the race.

While Armstrong said it’s fun to drive the SportMod, his future will be in another IMCA division.

Next year, Adam Armstrong plans to run in the IMCA Stock Car class.
“That’s awesome,” Adam Armstrong said. “It will be a lot of fun next year.”

Luck, wins continue to reside in Phelps/Busboom pit

For a month, all of the A Feature wins in the IMCA Stock Car class have belonged to two drivers who pit together at the Beatrice Speedway each Friday night. This week it was Pickrell driver Tyler Phelps’ turn to win the main event.

Phelps’ pit mate Filley driver Mark Busboom started the string of wins for the two drivers, claiming is first A Feature win of 2012 on fair night.

Phelps won the following week and Busboom took first place last week.

“Both of us struggled a little bit at the beginning of the year,” Phelps said. “Hear, the last couple months, we’ve got it figured out pretty good and we’ve got the cars working good.”

While the two drivers have exchanged wins, Friday night was the first time they were in a position to battle each other for first place.

After a caution with 16 laps remaining in the 18-lap, 16-car feature, Phelps took the lead in the race with Busboom moving into third place.

One lap later, it was Phelps and Busboom battling for the top spot in the main event. That battle continued through the remainder of the race with Phelps hanging on for the win.

“We kind of have a little joke going,” Phelps said. “Last week, he asked me what the back of his car looked like, so the first thing I did tonight was asked him what mine looked like.”

While Phelps hopes to keep the wins coming to their pit area, he doesn’t think it’s necessarily Busboom turn in victory lane next Friday night.

“I’m not going to give him a turn,” Phelps said. “If he earns it, he gets it, but, if not, I’ll take it.”

Spellmeier goes back-to-back in Sport Compacts

For the second week in a row, and the fifth time this season, Beatrice driver Scott Spellmeier took the checkered flag at the end of the IMCA Sport Compact A Feature Friday at the Beatrice Speedway.

Spellmeier took the lead with five laps remaining in the 12-lap, 14-car A Feature.
“The track was a little different than what I expected when I went out,” Spellmeier said. “It took me a couple laps to get ahold of it.

“Once I got toward the front and calmed down a little bit, I was able to drive my own race after that.”

While the majority of wins in the Sport Compact class this season have belonged to either Spellmeier or DeWitt driver Brock McDougall, Spellmeier said there are “a lot of fast cars” on the track each week at Beatrice.

“You just have to put everything together on a certain night,” Spellmeier said.
Spellmeier, who has been racing for three years, said doing the “little stuff” to the race cars, which is allowed within the IMCA rules, can give a driver an edge.

“If you set up the car, it makes a big difference over somebody who just comes out and tries to drive it around,” Spellmeier said.